Strolling just a few steps ahead of team VIP along the grounds of Harvey’s Point Hotel in Donegal, Eric Roberts and his wife Niamh share a knowing look and a soft smile, before she tenderly puts her hand on her tummy. The pair, who wed here exactly one year ago, are not only reminiscing on that special day and celebrating their anniversary, but also their impending arrival, too.
The couple, who’ve known each other for nearly 20 years, are expecting their first child together – something they’ve dreamed about for the longest time.
“It doesn’t feel real at the moment,” Eric beamed. “Niamh and I have always loved children, we’re really family orientated and I’m a big kid myself! We are excited for the challenge. We’re terrified, too, we have no idea what we are supposed to be doing, but like every parent we’ll learn as we go. We’re lucky that we’re getting the chance to experience this together.”
While Eric’s known to most through content creation online, appearing on Netflix’s Squid Games: The Challenge and most recently dabbling in some presenting for Ireland AM, Niamh prefers the more private life of her classroom. Back when Eric was a special needs assistant, the pair even worked together briefly in the school.
Following our shoot, we sat down with Eric to hear all about how these childhood sweethearts first met at a dance class, his upcoming book about inclusivity and children with disabilities, and striking the balance between a public and private life, when it comes to sharing with the world online.
Eric, huge congrats on the baby joy!
I’m very excited. Niamh’s growing a human being with arms and legs and every day she’s in pain with her back or feeling sick and I’m just dawdling about like a feckin’ eejit asking if she needs anything. It’s obviously really hard on her but I’m very lucky she’s doing as well as she is. All I can do is try make her laugh every day.
Have you been prepping the dad jokes already?
I have, y’know! I’ve been prepping unknowingly for the past three or four years. I might write a dad joke book, but I’d say the kid, boy or girl, will be sick of me as soon as they can understand what I’m saying.
Are you going to find out what you are having?
No, this is a once in a lifetime surprise so we said we will wait. The baby is due January 5th, so it will be an interesting Christmas in the Roberts’ household!
Talk to us about the moment you found out Niamh was expecting, it had quite a chaotic buildup!
We were staying in a hotel just outside Dublin, and when we woke up, I could tell there was something wrong with Niamh. There was something off and she wouldn’t tell me what was going on. So, we went for breakfast and she was still being quiet. I had no idea what was wrong. I thought I did something the night before to annoy her! All of a sudden there was this big commotion and some of the waiters started screaming for help as a member of staff was having a seizure or an epileptic episode. I was an SNA so I’d seen it before. I’m no expert but I knew the basic stuff. I was tending to her as there was nobody else around. I glanced over at Niamh and she was visibly upset and I looked over again and she was gone. Eventually the ambulance came and the girl was ok so I went back to the room and said ‘Where did you go, what happened? You missed it all.’ She broke down. She was in the bathroom and from behind her back she showed me the pregnancy sticks and I broke down in tears. It was such commotion. It took me about 10 or 15 seconds to process what I was seeing, I was like, ‘Are you pregnant or do you have Covid?!’ It was lovely then, we were very, very happy because we had been trying for a bit so we were over the moon.
How do you feel about becoming a parent? It’s a huge deal, a big moment. Are you nervous, worried, excited, all of the above?
It doesn’t feel real at the moment. Niamh and I have always loved children and I worked with kids for years. I was a special needs assistant and even before that, I taught dance classes. I have always been around children and enjoyed working with them. I’m a big kid myself, and with all my nieces and nephews, we’re always playing games. I’ve always looked forward to becoming a dad, we are really family orientated. We are excited for the challenge, we’re terrified, we have no idea what we are supposed to be doing, but like every parent we’ll learn as we go. We’ll make our own mistakes too and see how we get on.
We’re so glad Niamh was happy to do the shoot and celebrate the news because she’s not really into this side of your career, is she?
We had so much fun doing this shoot and she loved it, but she is never going to fully immerse herself in this side of things. Niamh is an incredible singer and I’ve pestered her to let me post videos. She is such a friendly and bubbly person but she just has no interest in it. I fully respect that. She’s a teacher and that comes first. She doesn’t want to be an online personality, she doesn’t want to be well known, she likes her privacy, but she also respects that I have built a career off the back of it. I’m very careful about what I post, I’m not political and I’m not controversial, it’s all really lighthearted, family stuff so I’m never at risk of making a show of her or my family and that’s important to us.
It’s nice to have that balance. Can you tell us about how you guys met? It was at a dance class, right?
Yeah, it was! In transition year, myself and four mates were roped into going to this dance class in Letterkenny. It was around the time of the Step Up movie and we were all getting ready for a dance-off. It was great craic! I saw Niamh but we never spoke, we just caught each other looking from across the room – those teenage adolescent vibes. We shared a kiss at one of the dance competitions afterwards and since then, we’ve been in constant contact for the past 19-20 years. We were on and off, went travelling, went to college and even though we might have broken up, every time we would just come back to each other. We had our time apart, we grew up but we always knew in our heads we’d end up together.
And sure, look at you now!
Happier than ever, starting our own wee family. Who’d have ever thought it?! Niamh’s still a teacher now, and you were a special needs assistant (SNA).
Did you work together at all, did your paths ever cross?
They did, funnily enough! We ended up in the same school and we kept everything tightly under wraps in regards to the students. There was one occasion where I ended up in her class, I walked in and said good morning Ms Emmett and gave her a cheeky wink. I was down the back of the classroom, laughing. It was a funny experience but I don’t think Niamh enjoyed it as much as I did.
Being an SNA it must have been a very rewarding job, was it?
It was! It was something I loved doing. Oisín, my nephew, has cerebral palsy and for years mum could see how much fun we had together. She was an SNA herself. She asked me to do the course, said I’d love it. I did it for years, working with children of all ages, mainly with children on the spectrum but just a broad range of disabilities. They are such incredible human beings, some of the most intelligent kids I’ve ever met in my entire life and a lot of them are just totally misunderstood. It has stayed with me, I don’t think I will ever stop working with kids with disabilities. That is still a really rewarding part of my life.
And you’ve penned a book too, about inclusivity and disabilities in children.
Yeah, I’m releasing a book next year about inclusion, a children’s story. It’s something I have been working on for quite a while. I have no specific dates unfortunately; the book is completely finished but I want to take my time. I’m not in it for the money just for the fact I want to get this book out there, I think it is a nice message.
Your nephew will be so proud of what you created.
Well, fingers crossed. He’s a hard man to please at times [laughs].
You got into social media during lockdown but what made you change it up, head in the media direction full time and step away from your job as an SNA?
When I first started out on social media I never in a million years thought I’d be where I am now. Nearing the end of my time as an SNA, the decision was made for me because I was so busy online and getting so many offers, the money was a lot better than the wages I was on. It would have been silly to turn down all the opportunities. I had a talk with my family and said I wanted to give it a go for a while, and everyone was really supportive and it has worked out amazingly. I was in Paris for the Olympics, Australia for the Women’s
World Cup, I’ve spoken to Cillian Murphy, interviewed Russell Crowe and Nicola Coughlan, there’s been a lot of pinch-me moments. I’m constantly trying new things. Over the last few years, I’ve realised there’s no limits to what you can try. I’m very grateful for everything that’s happened and fingers crossed I can keep climbing the showbiz ladder.
You’ve already had a few presenting stints on Ireland AM, so will there be more of that going forward?
People are saying TV is on the way out but I just think mainstream media, it comes with a bit more respect. People know me as the TikToker Eric Roberts but slowly it’s becoming Eric Roberts who works on the red carpet or Eric Roberts who’s on Ireland AM which is nice. I love TV, I love presenting. I love the excitement of live television, interviewing people and travelling so it’s something I’m going to continue to pursue. In five years’ time I would absolutely love to have The Eric Roberts’ Show something like a Graham Norton or Jonathan Ross style talk show. I think it’s really missing here in Ireland. I’d love to have my own show, my name in lights, great guests, good craic.
Your name has been mentioned a few times for one of the new presenting roles in RTÉ 2FM too, would you be up for it?
There’s been no offers on the table yet, I can tell you that!
Tell us, what about Dancing with the Stars, because you do have a dance background!
Potentially! I do have a background in dance, I mean nothing like the dancing you see on DWTS so I would be starting from scratch in that sense. There was mumblings about being asked this year but with the baby on the way, he or she, and Niamh has to come first. But maybe next year! I’d never turn down an opportunity like that.
You’re no stranger to reality TV though, having appeared on Netflix’s Squid Games: The Challenge. That looked so intense! Were you pushed to your limits?
It was a gruelling, gruelling experience and for only two minutes of air time which was mortifying! I’m glad I did it though. I learned a lot about myself. I don’t think anyone knew what they were signing up for, with that show. We had three days of isolation before being brought to this humongous warehouse, the lights went on, the camera’s started and that was it for two weeks. The last few days were very really, really tough. You didn’t know who you could trust, you couldn’t switch off, it wasn’t a nice experience. If I was to ever do reality telly again, it would be on a much smaller scale.
You’ve joked about living a double life, the showbiz lifestyle in Dublin, the low-key, sea swimming, one in Donegal. It’s the best of both worlds.
I’m delighted. We toyed with the idea of moving to Dublin and getting immersed in the showbiz lifestyle but I love coming home here, to Donegal. Nobody gives a shiny shite about who I am! I go down to play football with the lads and they’ll ask me a bit about what I was doing over the weekend and then we’d get on with our session. My really close friends don’t even ask me anymore, they just tell me about their week, which is great! It keeps you grounded because I’m sure your head can go on a swivel doing these sort of things all the time. I’d walk in the door after a week in Paris and Niamh will say, Eric, your shoes are all over the place go tidy up! And off I go. She doesn’t care if I’m buddies with Russell Crowe, she just wants a clean room!
She’s dead right!
100 per cent, [laughs].
Well, between the baby and a blossoming media career, you’re going to be kept busy but before that, you’re heading off now to Greece for some R&R. Are you looking forward to just taking a minute for yourselves?
We are just going to put our feet up and relax. I’ll be kept busy when I’m back. I’m prepping for the Dublin Marathon in October so that will take up a lot of my time, I’m raising money for Focus Ireland. I think when the baby comes, the phone will take a back seat then as well. We will find our feet and ensure the baby is happy and healthy before I get back to any work. It’ll be a whole new adventure! And then we can start chatting about baby number two when Niamh’s good and ready.
